Tim at Island Bay Divers is fantastic, super knowledgeable and a great communicator. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the course due to unusual ear issues. Tim was responsive and processed a refund for me that same day. Would 100% recommended Island Bay divers. I hope to complete the course sometime in the future. Thank you Tim !
Just completed my advanced course with this dive shop. Firstly, our dive instructor was amazing!! She was knowledgeable, approachable and calm. Loved learning with her. Sadly the owner, Tim, did he best to ruin this experience. The gear was old and faulty and we had countless issues. He would also attempt to undermine the instructor at every opportunity. He was also very unprofessional and tried to get us to pay more money half way and we had to prove we had paid up front. He would also argue with the instructor in front of us which made us all feel uncomfortable. He was not great to be around and I wouldn’t do any other courses there.
Unprofessional and Dishonest Service My experience with Island Bay Divers was incredibly frustrating and unprofessional. From the start, I specifically asked if they were willing to service my regulator and my partners regulator . Tim, the owner, confirmed that he would, only to later outsource the work to someone else without informing me in advance. He then tried to claim that he had mentioned this possibility, which he absolutely did not. Despite requesting a quote for servicing two regulators, I only received a quote for one without mentioning the quote was only for one of the regulator, which led to confusion about the final price. Tim clearly profited from outsourcing the work, despite originally claiming he would do it himself. When I asked for a detailed breakdown of the costs, I was met with passive-aggressive emails. the bill he later sent stated " cost of servicing a regulator" that's it. nothing else wich is obviously because he didnt even know what work or parts went into the regulators. To make matters worse, he added surprise charges, such as courier fees, and then claimed he was doing me a favor by removing them when i confronted him. The entire communication was unprofessional and condescending, with Tim trying to shift the blame onto me for his poor service. If you are looking for transparency, honesty, and professionalism, I would strongly recommend avoiding this business. The entire process was marred by dishonesty, and I left feeling scammed.
Great team making learning to dive an awesome experience. Tim and the team were welcoming, knowledgeable and made the open water course a great experience, and provided everything needed as well as great advice and guidance. Instructor Pablo and his team were awesome, very easy to deal with and really looked after everyone and made the learning fun...looking forward to a bunch more dives with them!
I would 100% recommend to anyone sceptical about getting their Open Water Dive license to do it through Island Bay Divers. Not only do they have the best deal in regards to the pricing of the course (you get 7 extra dives covered by the cost of the course), but the team truly cares about their students, which takes the stress away from messing up when learning new skills. Tim is also extremely knowledgeable and has been beyond helpful in regards to me hiring/buying gear for various underwater exploits. Overall, you really can't get better than Island Bay Divers - they should be your first stop for anything dive-related in Wellington!
Recently went on their new guided snorkel tour offering (affectionately known as the snorkel tourkel) and it was great! I got to see lots of paua, fish, and a crayfish in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve. The water is very cold though, so I recommend choosing the thickest wet suit if you get cold easily. The hot drinks and biscuits (aka cookies for Americans) at the end were a really nice touch.
Island Bay Divers is located at 353 The Parade, Island Bay, Wellington 6023, New Zealand
You can contact Island Bay Divers at +64 4 383 6778
You can find directions to Island Bay Divers by following this map link
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